Month: January 2018

Getting started in the real estate business can be very rewarding. Each market will have their own unique niches and characteristics. It is your responsibility to understand how to position yourself in the markets you will be marketing yourself to become and stay successful as a real estate agent.

As a new real estate agent you should be familiar with each market’s chamber of commerce and who the go to person is. This is a fantastic resource for anyone trying to gain market share. You should join each chamber and attend any and all events possible. As a member you will be given a list of all the chamber members. This is a great list to market your service too, especially banks, credit unions, real estate brokers, mortgage brokers, insurance agents, etc. Many financial institutions partner with real estate agents, if you are lucky enough to walk into a situation where your company has this relationship use it to your advantage.

Obviously there are many kinds of advertising you can invest in, so be careful you don’t spend money on too much advertising. The best type of advertising is being referred by a happy and satisfied customer. Work with a senior agent and get a couple of deals under your belt that you can use as testimonials. In a larger market you may need to put your face on a billboard or create a website to get yourself noticed. Whatever it is you utilize as advertising make sure you track it. This means ask people where they heard of you or who referred them to you. Then you can determine which marketing piece is working and which is not working as well.

Networking is probably going to be the most important part of becoming successful. Go out and pound the pavement and develop relationships with as many respected businesses that are related to your field. The network of professionals will grow as their trust in you grows. Always do what you say you will do and a little more. If you exceed people’s expectations they will think of you first. Lunch-n-learns are a concept that work very well with a lender and agent. Get with a lending partner and set these up with other businesses that would benefit from them like the one’s mentioned earlier.

Other huge marketing areas that many newbie’s miss are their friends and family members. Don’t be bashful, hand these trusted few a handful of your business cards and flyer’s and let them help you get your name out there. Each one of them knows at least another 100 people in the area and that person knows just as many and so on. They may even know someone looking for your service that day. Just make sure to not miss this one, it will pay huge dividends in the early going and throughout your career. Make it happen or it will happen for you.

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Here is a list of five of some of the best real estate apps for the iPhone, along with a review of the app and what it gives to the house hunters that use them. Enjoy and I hope that these apps help make someone a new, happy home owner.

Zillow

Zillow utilizes your iPhone’s GPS system, giving the iPhone user the ability to view overhead shots of available homes in the area as well as an estimate of prices of almost every house in the area. Is a great way to find houses that are for sale or for rent around the area a user is looking to move to along with allowing them to find a price range that matches their budget. With plenty of search options, the app allows iPhone users the ability to have full customization of what they’re looking for in a new abode. This iPhone app is free.

Realtor.com

With the ability to search over 4 million listings, view prices and details on different properties and gives information on open houses in the area, Realtor.com’s iPhone app gives iPhone users plenty of options when looking for a new house. It also allows users to synchronize the app with their personal Realtor.com accounts, which gives them the ability to find previously saved listings. With plenty of in-depth information on listings, this iPhone app does the trick. This iPhone app is free.

Around Me

This is a must for any home buyer that doesn’t plan on spending their entire life locked up in their house. Around Me gives iPhone users the ability to search their surroundings, such as when checking out a listing, for a complete list of businesses in the vicinity. It includes multiple categories that range anywhere from local coffee shops to the nearest bank. Every listing has the option to show its location on a map, give you directions from where you are and gives you contact information. Although it is not directly a real estate iPhone app, it can definitely be helpful when looking at prospective homes. This iPhone app is free.

Dictionary of Real Estate Terms

Just as the name of this iPhone app says, the Dictionary of Real Estate Terms puts the meaning of over 3,000 real estate terms in the hands of iPhone users. It’s very comprehensive and convenient when you need to understand that real estate lingo. The app is very user-friendly with a good interface and. This dictionary is a simple app that gets the job done. This iPhone app is free.

RECalc- Real Estate Mortgage Loan Calculator

RECalc is a great tool that allows users to easily calculate monthly payments, terms, interest rates, or the amount needed with a loan. It also allows iPhone users to integrate other things such as homeowner’s insurance and property taxes into the equation, allowing for maximum efficiency and accuracy. It also works as a normal mathematical calculator, in case your iPhone doesn’t happen to have one of those already. This iPhone app allows anyone, whether you’re a first time buyer or a seasoned real estate agent, to be effective in managing their money. This iPhone app is currently $1.99.

The first step in selling a home is working with your real estate agent to prepare a price range. The price range should be established from a market analysis that goes from a low to high price. This should prepare a seller for pro-active price adjustments within a pre-determined period of time in order to create a pool of buyers for a property.

The goal of price adjustments is designed not just around being proactive to the market place, but to keep your house on the MLS (Multiple Listing Service) on the forefront of buyers’ minds. The reason being is that each and every time a property is listed as a price change it’s placed in front of buyers that may not have seen it before. This should be made part of your pricing plan with your real estate agent.

A good pricing plan should look like this:

Weeks 1 – 4 on the market

This is the time period where your house appears on the market as “NEW.” During this time the property is being exposed to all active buyers in the market and advertised by your selected brokerage. During this time period, pricing adjustments aren’t necessary.

Week 5

This is the time that the first pricing adjustment should be made. This should be a pre-determined adjustment based on the price range, but this should also be the most substantial of any pre-discussed adjustment. The reason for this is that in order to effect a quick sale, the largest adjustments should be made at the beginning of the listing, not toward the end. Early price adjustments make a home look like a “value” whereas later adjustments make sellers appear “desperate.”

The exception to this rule, of course, would be if there are any offers pending on the property in question. Never make adjustments when there is a potential buyer on the line, or they might expect to begin negotiations at a new, lower price.

Weeks 6 – 8

If a home hasn’t sold, and is approaching the 60 days on the market marker, it’s time to make another adjustment. This one, however can be a “soft” adjustment, taking the price down by as little as $2,000. This is primarily to keep the property visible and keep generating new interest.

Weeks 8 – 12

From this point forward, as the house inches closer and closer to the 180 day on the market date, price adjustments should be made every two weeks. The price should be adjusted based on market conditions primarily, but a minimum consideration would be a $1,000 reduction every two weeks.

While sellers can find price adjustments to be difficult, knowing that it cuts into the profit they would like to make on the sale of their home, it’s important to remember that every price adjustment is less time on the market and less of a period of hard negotiations. The stress that a few price reductions can save can be well worth it.